Testimony Focuses On "Flophouse" At Aaron Hernandez Trial

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- New England Patriots staff member helped Aaron Hernandez find an apartment to rent in spring 2013, a Realtor told jurors Thursday at the former NFL tight end's murder trial, providing the first testimony about the Franklin, Mass. condominium that authorities have described as a secret "flophouse."

Rather than use the location for convenience to practice, authorities have suggested Hernandez used it to engage in several law-breaking practices.

Barbara Scardino testified that she had been approached by the team's director of player development, Kevin Anderson, on multiple occasions to help meet the Patriots' housing needs - which often involved finding residences close to Gillette Stadium.

"He helps players with…anything they need to make them feel comfortable," Scardino said. The Patriots, she said, frequently inquired about rental properties that, like the Franklin apartment, were within a short distance of the stadium. But the apartment Hernandez rented in May 2013 and the house he owned in North Attleborough were equidistant from the stadium, Scardino said, threatening defense lawyers' claims that Hernandez was simply looking for convenience to the field. It is the state's assertion that the apartment Hernandez rented was used for other purposes.

Tenants of the condominium complex, including a woman whose apartment was adjacent to the condo Hernandez rented, described the activity in and out of the apartment and its inhabitants - none of whom apparently included Hernandez. Rather, the primary occupant of the dwelling seems to have been Ernest George Wallace, a Bristol, Conn. who, like Hernandez, faces a murder charge in the Odin Lloyd slaying.

Carlos Ortiz, another Bristol, Conn. hometown friend of Hernandez who is charged with murder, directed authorities to the location, telling investigators that the former Patriots tight end had another address that not many people knew about - an apartment commonly referred to as a flop house.

The next-door-neighbor, Carol Bailey, an woman who appeared to be in her late sixties, testified that she met Ernest George Wallace when he moved into the condo in May. She described Wallace, who identified himself as George, as "extremely friendly."

"He said he was moving into the unit with his cousin," she said. In the following weeks, Bailey testified, she saw Wallace and another man at the condominium complex. She described hearing "loud male voices" that were "locker roomish" coming from next door. She also noticed an unpleasant smell in the evenings, which she described as skunk-like. Hernandez's marijuana habit has been central to this case.

Prosecutors worked to tie Hernandez to the murder Tuesday through the testimony...

When police searched the residence, they found several boxes of .45 caliber ammunition - the same caliber used in the Lloyd slaying. Investigators determined that Lloyd was killed with a .45 caliber Glock. In a Hummer parked outside the apartment and registered to Hernandez, police found a .45 caliber Glock magazine loaded with .45 caliber ammunition.

Bristol County Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh has prohibited prosecutors from telling the jury about what was seized from the Hummer and the Franklin, Mass. apartment, ruling that it was seized before they had probable cause linking Hernandez to the crime.

Bailey testified that she never saw Hernandez in the building. According to the state, however, he and the victim took two girls to the flophouse against their will when they went out the Friday before Lloyd's 3 a.m. Monday shooting. Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, is believed to have visited the flophouse the day after the shooting, prosecutors have signaled. Authorities believed Jenkins had a role in removing the murder weapon from the North Attleborough home after the shooting.

Earlier in the morning, jurors had heard testimony from Todd Girouard, a tire tracks expert with the Mass state Police. Girouard explained how he identified the rear tires of the Nissan Altima Hernandez was using the night of Lloyd's slaying. Girouard used tiny impressions that stones and pebbles left in the tire to identify what he said was a match.

"Would you agree with me that identifications of tire tracks are largely subjective?" Hernandez defense attorney James Sultan asked. Girouard said no, but Sultan pressed him further.

"This is something that you decide based on eyeballing," he testified.